The Long Journey to Immortality

Naturally, the area she ventured into was mainly the outskirts of the royal city, which was an area where a large number of low-level cultivators and mortals lived together.

Compared to thirty years ago, this area has been extensively renovated and expanded, allowing it to accommodate more mortals, cultivators, and merchants visiting the royal city.

I don't know if it was intentional.

Thirty years ago, when Han Lu came to the capital, she could still see a large number of buildings in the style of the Central Plains in these areas of the Western Regions capital.

But on this evening, the royal city's architectural complex, as seen by Han Lu, was mainly in the Western Regions style.

Only in small areas where merchants from the Central Plains were active can one still see a large amount of Central Plains writing, architectural decorations, and distinctive architectural styles.

Han Lu is not a historian, not a religious scholar, and not a native of the Western Regions.

However, Han Lu, who knows some history, can still see clues from these changes.

Clearly, this Western Regions trend, which started in the religious sphere a century ago, has now begun to influence the daily lives of the people of the Western Regions.

The monks who organized religious ceremonies and sacrifices wanted to increase the cohesion of the people of the Western Regions through "cultural confidence" and use this as an opportunity to narrow the gap between the Western Regions and the Central Plains in various aspects.

As history has shown, since the ancient times, the Western Regions and the Central Plains have been one family.

They share the same bloodline and culture, and even the administrative power of the Western Regions is firmly held in the hands of the Central Plains Cultivator Alliance.

With the emergence of the so-called "sage king," the Central Plains and the Western Regions split. Due to geographical reasons and lifestyle, the people of the Western Regions, who had always wanted to maintain their autonomy after the split, spent thousands of years forming their own new culture.

Because these new cultures lacked foundation and depth, they naturally became the main subject of the Central Plains people's contempt for the people of the Western Regions.

This contempt subtly altered the relationship between the Central Plains and the Western Regions, and ultimately, in the contrast between the powerful Central Plains and the weak Western Regions, it formed a true "racial discrimination," which was regarded by some mortals and cultivators who had not experienced the proud history of the "Holy King's" independence as the root cause of the Western Regions' backwardness.

After five thousand years of hard work, the Western Regions finally established their independent status and separated themselves from the Central Plains. Now, a trend of "learning from the culture of the Central Plains" has emerged.

This trend, with its ups and downs, lasted for nearly 30,000 years. The Chinese-style buildings that Han Lu saw in the royal city were all built during this period.

Of course, the trend was completely extinguished after high-level cultivators intervened more extensively in the mortal world in the form of religion, and a new trend of "Western Regions cultural confidence" became the main theme.

This cultural trend has its ups and downs, and Han Lu, being a passerby, couldn't comment on it because she didn't understand it. However, she felt that the Western Regions capital city thirty years later was indeed much better than the Western Regions capital city thirty years ago.

However, Han Lu was indeed just a passerby, and what she saw was only one-sided.

The trend of "cultural confidence in the Western Regions" not only reveres antiquity within a religious framework, but also excludes some advanced elements from the Western Regions.

For example, the book "Common Sense" that Han Lu once co-edited and published with Wen Erya was listed as a banned book because of "extreme cultural self-confidence". It was only allowed to be circulated among monks and the three major tribes, and did not benefit the vast people of the Western Regions.

Even religion was abused in some tribes, becoming a new means of oppressing ordinary people.

Some tribes that had been completely assimilated into the Central Plains were forcibly changed their customs and flags, becoming even more like the local people of the Western Regions than the three major tribes.

Animal husbandry was considered a core part of the Western Regions culture. Many fertile fields that had been painstakingly cultivated were purchased at relatively low prices, causing many ordinary people in the Western Regions to lose their means of livelihood and exacerbating the contradiction between the population of the Western Regions and the total amount of food available.

With both advantages and disadvantages, whether this move is good or bad still needs to be tested over five or even ten decades.

With its culture and religion reviving under the guidance of the "Holy King Religion," and its politics and administration aligning with the advanced ideas of the Central Plains under the leadership of the "Western Regions United Organization," it must be said that the Western Regions are on a very strange path.

However, looking at the bustling market, Han Lu still judged based on her own insights, "It seems that the Western Regions are on the right track."

Having absorbed some of Xiaoyaozi's memories and having already spread her footprints across the entire continent, Han Lu had no regional discrimination. In addition, given the so-called human calamity that might befall all human cultivators and mortals at any time, she naturally hoped that the people of the Western Regions could live in peace and prosperity, and that more heroes and outstanding figures would emerge from the Western Regions.

She believed that only when there were as many Nascent Soul Realm cultivators as there were 100,000 years ago, helping the human race withstand the heavens and earth, could the human race overcome the calamity predicted by Wang Han and continue the bloodline of the race that had been preserved through a great war.

Han Lu, dressed in Western Region attire, walked the streets of the royal city. Looking at the ordinary people of the Western Regions around her, who were no different from the people of the Central Plains except for their darker skin, she did not feel like a guest.

She even imitated the accent of people from the Western Regions, pretending to be a local, in order to buy some ordinary ornaments in the style of the Western Regions from some worldly merchants at relatively cheap prices.

She certainly didn't lack that little bit of gold and silver; she just found it interesting.

While wandering around, Han Lu even saw a "religious drama" performed by monks on a stage, which made her even more impressed by the determination of the Western Regions' leaders to promote religion and increase the cohesion of the Western Regions.

As midnight approached and the royal city gradually quieted down, Han Lu leisurely returned to the "hotel," entered a meditative state, and continued to "paint" the elixir patterns onto her golden core, waiting for the sun to rise the next day so she could use the pass she had obtained from the Green Lion Taoist to make a trip to the library.

[Author's Note] This is a protagonist who has mastered the secret to wealth.

I'm so glad that when I wanted to write a book again, I decided to write on Hedgehog Cat (Book Guest). The 55th installment was a rebellion against Yuewen. I won't join the fray here, but I'll continue to maintain the record of updates.

Chapter 666 Acquisition of the Ancient Map, Meeting the High Priest

After Han Lu attempted to write the elixir patterns on the golden core thirty times in one night, the sun rose over the grassland, and a new day officially began.

After all, he is a Golden Core cultivator and does not need to eat every day.

After hearing Han Lu praise the deliciousness of the "Western Region cuisine," no breakfast was delivered to Han Lu's room that day, so as not to disturb the cultivation of Han Lu, a senior Golden Core cultivator and a distinguished guest from the Central Plains.

After changing the form of her phoenix feather robe once again, Han Lu returned to her favorite everyday attire.

This time, she wore her identity as a "Central Plains cultivator" on her face, just to make things easier.

Despite being dressed as a person from the Central Plains, Han Lu easily entered the library thanks to the pass provided by the Green Lion Taoist.

Maps, due to their unique significance, are generally considered confidential documents within ordinary books and atlases.

It was only because Han Lu was looking for a detailed map from three hundred years ago that she was able to obtain the right to copy the map and take it away.

The library, which houses archives, documents, and ancient books from the Western Regions for over 30,000 years, is located on the outskirts of the core area of ​​the royal city.

Because of the "antiquarianism" trend that swept through the past century, the three major tribes of the Western Regions who controlled the capital city specially renovated this culturally significant building, reorganized and archived the books and documents that were originally piled up in a mess, and called on each tribe to contribute their own books and collections to enrich the library's inventory, making it a cultural symbol under another new trend.

Because the map had been organized, Han Lu found the map she was looking for without much effort.

Compared to the maps in the hands of merchants, the maps in the library are several times more detailed and precise.

Especially for key areas in the desert, the records were drawn by Foundation Establishment cultivators who flew and drew their own maps.

This map should be more helpful to Han Lu in finding Xiaoyaozi's cave than Han Lu imagined.

Using her artifact manipulation technique, Han Lu unfolded the giant map. Holding the jade tablet, she scanned the map with her divine sense and used a supernatural ability that only cultivators at the Golden Core stage or above could use to record the entire map onto the jade tablet.

The fact that Han Lu displayed such a "rare" method in this way naturally drew the attention of the cultivators and mortals walking around and browsing books in the library, who secretly wondered which senior expert from the Central Plains was this.

The "copying" process lasted only about three minutes, which was because it was the first time Han Lu had used such a supernatural ability and she was being extremely careful.

After the copy was completed, the map was completely recorded in the jade tablet. After advancing to the Golden Core Realm, Han Lu once again experienced the convenience that the Daoist arts brought to a cultivator's personal life, just like when she first started cultivating.

In addition to the ancient maps, Han Lu, after consulting with the library's management and receiving permission, also copied some "religious texts" under the guise of a guest from the Central Plains.

This was not because Han Lu wanted to convert to the "Holy King Sect" as a Golden Core cultivator from the Central Plains, but because she wanted to increase her understanding of religion and religious rituals in preparation for her meeting with the High Priest four days later.

After all, the other party is a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Despite her powerful background, Han Lu still wanted to put on a show and act as a civilized guest.

Back at the "hotel," having obtained such a detailed set of ancient maps, Han Lu, who already had a concrete idea in mind, felt that everything was so simple.

Han Lu found one by one the oases that had disappeared into the deserts of the Western Regions due to the passage of time.

There are eleven oases in total, some large and some small.

Combined with her memory of the approximate size and appearance of the oasis where Xiaoyaozi had once stopped, set up formations, and arranged his cave dwelling, she also found that...

Han Lu conducted a relatively simple screening and then narrowed down her targets to two points on the map.

"After we finish meeting the High Priest, we'll go and take a look at those two places."

Han Lu put down the jade pendant and silently prayed, "I hope everything goes as I wish and can be completed smoothly."

"Otherwise, if I cannot find the Nascent Soul stage cultivation method of the Great Zhou Heavenly Water Condensation Technique, I am afraid I will have no choice but to step into a river I have never crossed before and walk a path I have never imagined."

Han Lu, who habitually chooses the safe path, was unwilling to make such a bold choice, gambling away her nearly forty years of smooth cultivation.

The search for the cave dwelling has made progress, and Han Lu has temporarily put it aside.

Han Lu took out the other jade tablets and held them in her hand. She began to understand the new thing called "Holy King Sect" from the perspective of an outsider.

Of course, just as Han Lu had thought, the main purpose of reading these "fake" books was to learn about etiquette.

As for the other information, the stories written into the doctrine as history, she indeed treated them as stories.

Respect does not equate to faith. Han Lu, who has already reached the Golden Core realm and "passed through" the ancient cultivation era, would not take a Nascent Soul cultivator who is not that powerful as her idol.

Four days passed quickly.

The Green Lion Taoist did not come looking for Han Lu again during those four days, and treated Han Lu, his guest, with great hospitality as the host.

The "hotel" only sent servants to deliver three sticks of incense to Han Lu before sunrise on the day they met.

According to the servant who delivered the incense, the three sticks of incense were "blessed" before the statue of the Holy King.

Generally speaking, incense is the best medium for concealing poisons.

However, being on the other side's territory, and with at least three Nascent Soul cultivators in the Western Regions Royal City, Han Lu did not believe that the "three incense sticks" had been tampered with.

He casually cast a spell, using the extravagant "Fire Phoenix True Flame" to ignite the three sticks of incense and manipulate them to float in the air.

Han Lu then condensed the moisture in the air into an ice bucket, and used magic to pour hot water into it. Just as the Green Lion Taoist had hoped, she performed the ritual of "bathing and fumigating" to meet the religious leader of the Western Regions in accordance with the so-called "purification" of the "Holy King Sect".

It must be said that even for a Golden Core cultivator like Han Lu, taking a hot bath is a comfortable thing.

Naked, I sat in a bucket of hot ice water, closed my eyes, and breathed in the faint fragrance in the air.

Han Lu recalled the rituals of the "Holy King's Sect" for a moment, and obediently followed the rules to "bathe and fumigate" for a quarter of an hour before stepping out of the bath tub, cleaning up the mess, and heading alone to the High Priest's residence in the royal city.

Having given prior notice, Han Lu was able to travel unimpeded to a place inaccessible to most Western Region cultivators, even without proving her identity.

Although the High Priest has a religious identity, he is indeed a Nascent Soul cultivator, and his residence is naturally the best feng shui location in the royal city.

The place where the "Holy King" practiced was once designated as a "protected area," and outsiders were not allowed to enter.

Naturally, the high priest lived next to the Holy King's place of cultivation under the guise of "protection," taking advantage of the spiritual energy and feng shui of the area.

Han Lu had just stopped in front of the seven-story tower where the high priest resided when the tower's doors opened automatically.

"Fairy Han, please come in. Go straight to the seventh floor. I'll be waiting for you here."

Chapter 667 The High Priest's "Relationship" with Han Lu

"Fairy Han?"

Han Lu was very perceptive and noticed the subtext in the way the High Priest addressed her.

Although the Zhengyi Sect had already announced all the news after she advanced to the Golden Core stage, it was not surprising that even cultivators in the Western Regions knew her Daoist name and real name.

But in this context, the high priest's sudden use of his real name clearly indicated a hidden agenda.

After walking a few steps, Han Lu muttered to herself, deep in thought.

"Trying to get closer? There's no need."